Description of prior art;
Aged persons or physically handicapped persons who have artificial legs and so on have some difficulty in walking, and they have anxiety about walking. Therefore they use a walking stick in walking.
A conventional walking stick comprises a walking stick body which is a bar formed in a certain length and is made of wood or metal pipe material, and a handle part, which is ball-like or of reverse U-shape or L-shape, is disposed at the upper part of the body.
In using this conventional walking stick, the user grips the handle part, lifts the walking stick body, and moves it forward, when resting one's weight to one's handicapped foot, then the user advances.
Repeating these movements, the user uses the walking stick as a supporting tool to walk.
However, in using the conventional walking stick, because the user moves it with lifting, it is necessary to lift and lower the walking stick and one's arm. Furthermore the user must put the end of it on the ground, and lean on it, and move one's weight, while balancing oneself all the time and the user walks on.
Consequently the conventional walking stick has the defect that it is burdensome to the muscles of the user's shoulder and arm and causes not only muscular fatigue, i.e., physical fatigue, but also, mental fatigue. For solving the above mentioned defect, a walking stick which has a stability support leg which diverges from the walking stick body at a proper position, two wheels disposed at the lower end of the walking stick body or the lower end of the stability support leg, and one or two wheel(s) disposed at the lower end of the other stick body or support leg has been designed.
In walking, the user pushes it with a little power, the wheels rotate and the walking stick moves. Therefore it can reduce physical fatigue and mental fatigue.
When the user walks, the above mentioned walking stick is convenient compared with the conventional walking stick, because it advances forward easily by rotation of the wheels. However, when it is stopped, it becomes unstable because of the easy rotation of the wheels, and when the user gets on and off vehicles, such as train, bus, taxi and so on, the walking stick is bulky and annoying to other passengers.
In particular, when the walking stick is used on a downward slope, it becomes dangerous. Therefore it can't be used at all.
Furthermore, the walking stick of above mentioned type doesn't have a problem in use on a flat paved road of a sidewalk. However, in use on an unpaved road or a sidewalk, or a road covered with gravel, the wheels run against the obstacles, and they can't advance at all.
It is an object of the invention to provide a walking stick with wheels which is designed in consideration of the above mentioned circumstances, and solves the above mentioned problems.
In normal walking, the user can easily walk and move forward with supporting wheels. In walking on a slope, particularly on a downward slope, the user can walk in a stable state without danger.
Another object of the invention is to provide a walking stick with wheels which do not move easily because of a locking structure, whereby to maintain the user's posture in a safe state when the walking stick is stopped temporarily.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a walking stick with wheels, the width and length of which can be contracted easily to minimize annoyance when the user gets on and off vehicles, such as train, bus, taxi and so on, and it can be kept in an area as narrow as possible when it is not used.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a walking stick with wheels which can pass over obstacles easily, such as gravel used on an unpaved road or a sidewalk or a road covered with gravel, and can advance smoothly without troubles such as failure to rotate wheels.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a walking stick on which to hang a baggage for the convenience of the user.